“Well, I don’t get psyched about things either, not until they’re real. Maybe not even then,” I muttered.
He stared at me in disbelief. “Why the fuck not?”
“I don’t know. I should be really happy right now, right?”
“Don’t wanna sound like a twelve-year-old, but duh!”
My shoulders lifted with a hanging shrug. “But I don’t. It’s like there’s an invisible hand stealing that moment from me replacing it with a terrible feeling of unworthiness.”
Every time I’d accomplished something or something good happened to me, a voice inside kept saying it wasn’t enough. It was nothing. I’d done nothing.
He grimaced, his hands on my shoulders, relaxing them. “How about every time you have one of those God-awful moments, I tell you, remind you of how accomplished, talented, beautiful and worthy you are? Would that help a little?”
I let myself get lost in his beautiful, loving eyes and nodded. “It will help a lot.”
Samantha came through the door, dragging Mike’s suitcase, her phone on her ear. “Hold on a second.” She stared at me, pressing the phone to her chest. “It’s Callahan. What do I tell him? Do we have a deal or not?” she whispered.
I grinned, gazing at Mike. “We have a deal.”
Scene48
Maggie
I signed with Callahan at dinner, and on the way back to my room—to Mike—I got a text from Robello calling for an urgent meeting at his office first thing in the morning. A simple message, yet I received it with a pang in my chest. Normally he’d call, and we’d have those meetings on set. He’d never asked me to come to his office before.
It was probably just another managerial meeting, which could mean budget cuts. Happened all the time. Nothing worth fretting about. But I was so happy I couldn’t help worrying something would ruin it for me.
I’d signed my third movie deal, become a partner in Mondo M, and the world would know I was Mike’s girlfriend in less than six months. I should be enjoying myself and not let anything mess it up.
However, there was something else that troubled me. Mike.
He was about to tell me something before Samantha interrupted us in the shower. Something important. Yet when I’d asked what it was, he’d changed the subject; he said he wanted me to know he couldn’t wait forBlack Sheepto end so we would live together. An uncomfortable subject, even if I wanted it as much as he did, that would get me nervous— on purpose. Not a single forehead rub or a drop of sweat on his side, though. Then he’d gotten me back into bed.
I’d ask him again and again until he told me the truth and why he had to hide it. Just not tonight. Not when I could spend the whole night in his arms and let his smile lift the weight of uncertainties off my soul.
Scene49
Maggie
Inside Robello’s office, I checked in with the secretary and took a seat in one of the leather chairs. In a few minutes, he waved me in with a formal smile. “Come in, Dawson.”
Dawson. Not Maggie or Kid ashewould address me. Not a good sign. Should I call him Mr. Robello now? He hated that. He’d always said Mr. Robello was his father and insisted I call him Don.
As I shut the door, he dropped the smile. The pang in my chest burrowed deep. I knew it. This was no regular meeting. What the hell was going on?
He sat at his desk and fixed his eyes on me. “I called you here today for a random drug test.”
I blinked, shifting in my seat. “What?”
He picked up a file and thumped it down in front of him. “It’s regular procedure…and also mandatory.”
“I know that, and I don’t mind. But aren’t these supposed to be for more than one employee? Why just me? And why here?”
He hunched over the desk, flipping through the file.
I stared at him, waiting for an answer. He was so tense the veins in his neck stood out. “Don, what the hell is going on?”
A long sigh left his mouth. “Look, Maggie, you know how much I admire your talent, but I’m afraid I’ve received some very disturbing photos of you on set.”
